Brands Hatch: Team Aon Sunday report

DOUBLE CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY FOR TEAM AON
Team Aon celebrated a fantastic conclusion to the 2010 Dunlop MSA British
Touring Car Championship as the Arena Motorsport run Ford squad won the
Independents Team Trophy and Tom Chilton secured the ...

DOUBLE CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY FOR TEAM AON

Team Aon celebrated a fantastic conclusion to the 2010 Dunlop MSA British
Touring Car Championship as the Arena Motorsport run Ford squad won the
Independents Team Trophy and Tom Chilton secured the Independents Trophy
for drivers.

Brands Hatch in Kent bathed in glorious sunshine for the finale of a
fantastic seasons racing. Tom Onslow-Cole made a strong start to Race One
as he bid to win the drivers title, but his challenge was over almost
before it began as he suffered gearbox failure on lap nine, ending his
championship challenge with Jason Plato securing top honours in his
Chevrolet. Tom Chilton recovered strongly from a poor start to bring his
Calor Gas powered Focus ST home in 7th position scoring valuable points
in the process.

Race Two of the day saw both Team Aon cars make great starts with Chilton
moving forward from his 7th place start and Tom Onslow-Cole jumped 11
places from the back of the grid following his first race retirement.
However, it wasn't to be the New-Malden ace's day as he suffered a
hydraulics failure ending his race on lap 11. Chilton meanwhile, made
good progress and finished the race in 5th, once again adding to his
championship tally and securing enough points for Team Aon to be awarded
the Independents Team Trophy.

The final race of the season was a hugely tense affair as the
Independents driver's title was within Chilton's grasp as he started from
third on the traditional reverse grid. Shadowing Steven Kane's BMW all of
the race, Chilton finished the final race of the season on the podium as
champion, securing double independent trophy success for the
Littlehampton based squad. Tom Onslow-Cole was desperately unlucky as he
again suffered with hydraulics failure on the warm-up lap.

"It's been a frustrating day and a really bad way to end the
season. But we did come here in the title hunt and I've still finished
fourth in the championship, which is a great achievement for only my
third season in the BTCC and so I can go home happy, with the focus on
coming back next year even stronger."

"It was a hell of a fight to win the Independent Driver Trophy and
right now it feels like the best thing ever. We obviously would have
loved to have won the series outright, but it is tough to compete with
the manufacturer teams, so winning the independents is all we can really
ask for; we'll have a good party tonight!"

"A fantastic day for Team Aon securing two championship trophies,
although it is somewhat bitter sweet as we would have loved to of won the
champion outright. Tom Onslow-Cole was desperately unlucky with three
DNF's today and so we're disappointed for him. Tom Chilton did a
fantastic job to clinch the Independent Trophy though under extreme
pressure so I'm delighted for him and the whole of Team Aon as
Independent Team Champions."